Dreams of ash and moonlace
by SuchaNarcissist
Summary: Percy requests Calypso's release as his gift from the gods. Instead he gets an offer of immortality with Calypso. He decides to aim for the ephemeral hope of happiness instead of the guaranteed wars of earth. But can a hero ever truly give up his family even if love and life are on the line.


**Welcome to the newest in the I really should've been doing something else i.e. the procrastination saga.**

 **Enjoy :) SuchaNarcissist**

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 **Pre-warning large sections of this chapter are paraphrased from the book The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan, not that I own any of this anyway.**

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 ** _A boy of anguish now, he's a man of sorrow,  
Traded in his misery for the lonely life of the world.  
The years were cruel to him no,  
He won't let them go.  
Lays awake tryna' find the man inside to pack his bags and escape this road._**

 ** _Asking Alexandria- Moving On_**

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The Titan war had ended, the gods had won in the end however victory came at a steep price and many demigods had died. The gods had already rewarded Thalia, Tyson, Grover and Annabeth. One last demigod was to be rewarded.

"PERCY JACKSON!" Poseidon announced. The name echoed round the chamber. All talking died down. The room was silent except for the crackle of the hearth fire. Everyone's eyes were on him—all the gods, the demigods, the Cyclopes, the spirits. The Hero of Olympus walked into the middle of the throne room. Hestia smiled reassuringly from her position by the fire, seated in the form of a girl. Her comforting smile, gave Percy enough courage to continue walking. Upon reaching the centre of the room he first bowed to Zeus and then knelt at his father's feet.

"Rise, my son," Poseidon said. Percy stood uneasily. "A great hero must be rewarded," Poseidon said. "Is there anyone here who would deny that my son is deserving?"

Percy waited for someone to pipe up. The gods never agreed on anything, and many of them still didn't like him, but not a single one protested.

"The Council agrees," Zeus said. "Percy Jackson, you will have one gift from the gods."

Percy hesitated. "Any gift?"

Zeus nodded grimly. "I know what you will ask. The greatest gift of all. Yes, if you want it, it shall be yours. The gods have not bestowed this gift on a mortal hero in many centuries, but, Perseus Jackson—if you wish it—you shall be made a god. Immortal. Undying. You shall serve as your father's lieutenant for all time."

The son of the sea god stared at him, stunned. "Um . . . a god?"

Zeus rolled his eyes. "A dimwitted god, apparently. But yes. With the consensus of the entire Council, I can make you immortal. Then I will have to put up with you forever."

"Hmm," Ares mused. "That means I can smash him to a pulp as often as I want, and he'll just keep coming back for more. I like this idea."

"I approve as well," Athena said, though she was looking at Annabeth. Perseus glanced back. Annabeth was trying not to meet his eyes; her face was pale and beaded with sweat she looked distracted and yet heartbroken already. Percy remembered two years ago, when he'd thought she was going to take the pledge to Artemis and become a Hunter. He'd been on the edge of a panic attack, thinking that he'd lose her. Now, she looked worn but not worried, after all the man she had loved was dead, whatever had been between them was not the same and it never would be.

Percy thought about the Three Fates, and the way he'd seen his life flash by earlier. He could avoid all that; no aging, no death, no dead body in the grave. To be teenager forever, in top condition, powerful, and immortal, serving his father. Power and eternal life. Who could refuse that? Then he thought about the loneliness, the pettiness and shortsightedness that came with such a long lifespan in an eternal power struggle. He thought about his friends at camp who had passed on, unacknowledged and unrewarded, to enter nameless into the void of heroes, the place where all but a few ended in the end. And Percy knew what he had to do.

"No," He said. The Council was silent. The gods frowned at each other like they must have misheard.

"No?" Zeus said. "You are . . . turning down our generous gift?" There was a dangerous edge to his voice, like a thunderstorm about to erupt.

"I'm honored and everything," Percy said. "Don't get me wrong. It's just I want to live and grow, learn and change not to be stuck in the same place doing the same things forever stuck in this body- as a teenager."

The gods were glaring at me, Annabeth was string now slack jawed- finally something had surprised her, she looked torn half happy, half sad. "I do want a gift, though," He stated "Do you promise to grant my wish?"

Zeus thought about this. "If it is within our power."

"It is," I said. "And it's not even that difficult. But I need your promise on the River Styx."

"What?" Dionysus cried. "You don't trust us?"

"Someone once told me," He said, glancing at Hades, "you should always get a solemn oath."

Hades shrugged. "Guilty."

"Very well!" Zeus growled. "In the name of the Council, we swear by the River Styx to grant your request as long as it is within our power." The other gods muttered assent. Thunder boomed, shaking the throne room. The deal was made.

"From now on, I want to you properly recognize the children of the gods," Percy said. "All the children . . . of all the gods." The Olympians shifted uncomfortably.

"Percy," my father said, "what exactly do you mean?"

"Kronos couldn't have risen if it hadn't been for a lot of demigods who felt abandoned by their parents," He said. "They felt angry, resentful, and unloved, and they had no reason to side with their own parents."

Zeus' nostrils flared. "You dare state that we do not love our own"

"No, my lord, I say that they do not know that. No more undetermined children," He continued. "I want you to claim your children—all your demigod children—by the time they turn thirteen. They won't be left out in the world on their own at the mercy of monsters. At camp they will be safe and can be trained to survive."

"Now, wait just a moment," Apollo said, but Percy was on a roll.

"And the minor gods," He said. "Nemesis, Hecate, Morpheus, Janus, Hebe-—they all deserve some amnesty- or at least a reduced sentence and a place at Camp Half-Blood. Their children shouldn't be ignored and left to stew in the Hermes cabin thinking they are unwanted. And Hades—"

"Are you calling me a minor god?" Hades bellowed.

"No, my lord," The son of the sea god countered quickly. "But your children should not be left out. They should have a cabin at camp; Nico has proven that. You are after all one of the big three. We need to have more cabins, for all the gods. We need to stop shunning the children of minor gods we're going to train them and accept them instead. All children of the gods will be welcome and treated with respect. That is how it should be, how it should always have been."

Zeus snorted. "And why should we? Especially if this is- from what I've heard is not your wish."

"Percy," Poseidon said, "You go too far. You presume much."

"I hold you to your love," I said. "All of you. You say you love your children, and that you do not wish another war upon this world." Perseus got a lot of steely looks. He shifted from foot to foot unable to stand the budding tension in the room.

Strangely, it was Athena who spoke up: "The boy is correct. We have been unwise to ignore our children. It proved a strategic weakness in this war and almost caused our destruction. Percy Jackson, I have had my doubts about you, but perhaps"—she glanced at Annabeth, and then spoke as if the words had a sour taste—"perhaps I was mistaken. I move that we accept the boy's plan. As well as granting him his request. Our policy of ignoring or mistreating our children, or our siblings' children has led to great strife in the past. We can end that possibility now."

"Humph," Zeus said. "Being told what to do by a mere child. But I suppose . . ."

"All in favor," Hermes said. All the gods raised their hands.

"Um, thanks," Percy said. "So request time. I request that you release the demi-titan Calypso so from her prison Ogygia."

Zeus snorted "You would have me release a titan, did you not see the damage done by them. Surely she will just return to the ways of all titans and turn on you. This I cannot and will not grant, the danger is too much."

Annabeth was glaring at Percy now, apparently this was going too far. "My Lord Zeus, without Calypso's aid I would have been dead and unable to return to camp to fight beside my friends and prevent the destruction of camp. Without her the losses would not only have been far greater but I would not have been here to fight Kronos today."

Zeus hummed, apparently thinking it through "Perseus Jackson, after giving your proposal some thought, I have decided it is unwise to release Calypso from her curse. Therefore instead you may have the option of joining her on Ogygia forever."

Now Annabeth was outright crying "Before I accept Lord Zeus I would know the condition of such a generous gift." Percy had hoped that she would be freed, but the gods are the gods and freedom from such a successful curse would be too much to for. Instead Percy hoped –really hoped that she wouldn't find some new company awkward.

"The conditions shall be simple, you shall not leave Ogygia except for three one week periods throughout the year after which you will return. You shall have three days from now to fulfill any obligations here and then you will be taken to Ogygia with any items you wish to take. Once you reach 18 your body shall stop ageing and you will be bound to Ogygia forever excepting the three weeks per year." After pausing for a moment he then added "Due to your heroic efforts in this war against the titan's the three weeks will stack."

Percy bowed low and swallowing down any trepidation he may have been feeling spoke the words "I accept Lord Zeus, thank you for your kindness" Before turning swiftly and striding out the doors, leaving a shocked and immobilized room behind him.

Into the silence came the words "I didn't think the punk'd really accept" swiftly followed by several exclamations of "Percy!"

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Outside the main hall the newest resident of Ogygia only stopped to smile gently at a small girl tending to the flames of one of the braziers, a pathos at her feet, before practically running through Olympus towards the elevator and the exit. Towards his mother, and the impending explanation of why exactly he could now only see her three weeks per year.

Also the explanation of how he was going to keep up his school work. This was not going to be pleasant. But then again, Percy remembered Calypso, her hands slightly muddy from tending the moonlance, a smudge of soil left behind on the tanned skin of her face, a blinding smile as he reched and carefully removed the imperfection. Days of bliss and Sunshine. That was worth fighting for, to return to and to find such peace and happiness again. To wash the stains from his soul acquired from the killing of fellow demigods, from being the one to cause the light to leave their eyes and knowing, understanding and accepting that this should never have happened; that it was not his fault instead it was the gods, however he could not hold them to blame- they worked off of different rules- to a god time was a miasma only visible when entrenched in the mortal world, when watching people and civilizations rise and fall. That kind of longevity would knock anyone's perspective off. So Percy had had to let go of his anger, letting it slip away with the wind over broken bodies and piles of monster dust and as he passed a pair of statues, frozen and strangling each other, he took the first proper step in his recovery. He smiled.

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 **This is a bit of a preview, it may not be updated for some time but it will be continued.**

 **Enjoy :) SuchaNarcissist**


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